STATS planning Americas expansion

STATS Group is expanding its presence in the Americas off the back of successful projects in the US and Canada.

The company expects activity in North America to improve
further, with turnover growing by more than 70 per cent in both countries.

STATS, which is
headquartered in Kintore, UK, recently invested approximately £2 million
(US$2.5 million) in new premises and associated infrastructure to support the
planned growth in the region.

According to the company, Canadian revenue is expected to
grow 35 per cent in 2019, while in the US it is expected to be up 131 per cent
on the previous year.

STATS has expanded into larger premises in Edmonton, Canada,
where the company is now manufacturing and assembling a range of patented
isolation tools for sale to clients, in addition to being available on a
project basis.

The strategy of introducing the product sale model is a
result of client demand and has appealed to clients who are seeking bespoke
engineering solutions, proven technologies and immediate access to industry
leading technology.

STATS has since delivered a leading North American gas
utility with a package of equipment, including BISEP isolation tools, slab
valves and SureTap hot tapping machines, while another pipeline company has
added a selection of large diameter BISEPs and slab valves to its inventory.

The new 3,250 m2 Edmonton facility combines an
office, workshop and extensive fabrication capacity, meaning STATS can
assemble, manufacture, support and test a larger number of components and tools
in Canada, allowing for quicker and more efficient turnarounds.

“This investment in larger facilities underlines our
commitment to the Canadian energy and utilities sector and gives us the ability
to provide high quality client-specific solutions in a much shorter timeframe,”
said STATS Regional Director for Americas Stephen Rawlinson.

“Traditionally, we have provided our industry leading
technology and services to clients on a rental basis but the introduction of
product sales has proved extremely popular.

“This is really driving sustainable growth in our Canadian
business, despite overall negativity in the Canadian oil and gas industry due
to a lack of pipeline market access.

“This natural extension of our strategy gives customers
immediate access to our equipment, and our portfolio has been strongly endorsed
by major players in the sector as tried, tested and trusted technologies.

“We now have in place the infrastructure to support an
increase in product sales and we are already seeing the fruits of this
investment.”

STATS engages in subsea operations.

The success in Canada has been mirrored in onshore US
projects, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico, with STATS’ Houston team, led by
President and General Manager Scott McNae, expected to substantially increase
its local workforce by the end of 2019.

In the US, STATS engaged with several major operators on a
number of complex intervention projects, which the company says delivered
isolation results not previously achieved by rival technologies.

Mr McNae said STATS has supported small to large diameter
pipeline projects with technologies that offer more robust isolations than were
previously available.

“Our BISEP range is now a mature technology which offers a
safer, fully tested and monitored double block and bleed isolation, that is now
increasingly being used in the market as the go-to solution,” he said.

“The BISEP is also available with an integrated bypass
option, which has allowed STATS to provide engineered solutions that were
previously not available, providing our clients with several different
isolation options.”